The course introduces students to a general framework for the assessment of comparative effectiveness and safety, with an emphasis of the use of routinely collected data in healthcare settings. The framework relies on the specification and emulation of a hypothetical randomized trial: the target trial. The course explores key challenges for causal inference and critically reviews methods proposed to overcome those challenges. The methods are presented in the context of several case studies for cancer, cardiovascular, and renal diseases.

Course objectives: To learn how to determine “what works” using data from observational and randomized studies.

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Formulate sufficiently well-defined causal questions for comparative effectiveness research

• Specify the protocol of the target trial

• Design analyses of observational data that emulate the protocol of the target trial

• Identify key assumptions for a correct emulation of the target trial

Pre-course reading: Chapters 1-3 of the book Hernán MA, Robins JM (2020). Causal Inference: What If. Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall/CRC, forthcoming. The book can be downloaded (for free) from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/miguel-hernan/causal-inference-book/

1.25 ECTS

Fees:

• 312,50 €

• 212,50 € for enrolled students (proof required)

Registration:

Please send an e-mail to Tanja Te Gude
Tel. +49 30 450 570 812